Merion'eth

Merion'eth, a triangular county of Wales, with a maximum length and breadth of 45 miles by 30, a seaboard of 38 miles, and an area of 602 sq. m., or 385,219 acres, is bounded on the N. by the counties of Carnarvon and Denbigh, E. and S. by Montgomeryshire and the river Dovey, and W. by Cardigan Bay. Pop. (1801) 27,506; (1841) 39,332; (1881) 52,038; (1891) 49,204. Cliffs or low sands skirt the coast, which at some distance out to sea is fringed by dangerous sandbanks. Inland, the surface, although nowhere attaining such an altitude as that of Carnarvonshire, is rugged and mountainous in the extreme, interspersed in places with picturesque valleys, lakes, and waterfalls. Aran Mowddy (2970 feet), Cader Idris (q.v., 2914), and Aran Benllyn (2902) are the highest peaks; Bala the largest lake; whilst of rivers the principal are the Dee, which flows north-east, and the Dovey and Mawddach, which reach the sea after a south-west course. The soil generally is poor, and large tracts are unfit for profitable cultivation, the total extent of land in crop in 1889 only amounting to 160,817 acres, of which 128,021 acres were in permanent pasture. Great numbers of sheep are bred, and flannels and woollens to some extent manufactured, but the principal wealth of the county arises from its mineral products. Slate and limestone are largely quarried, much manganese ore is produced, and from mines in the vicinity of Dolgelly and Bala 3890 oz. of gold of the value of £13,227 were in 1889 obtained. Merioneth, which contains no municipal boroughs, is divided into five hundreds, and thirty-three civil parishes, partly in the diocese of Bangor, and partly in that of St Asaph. For judicial purposes it is in the North Wales circuit, Dolgelly being the assize town, and it sends one representative to the House of Commons. The County Council numbers fifty-six members, and the principal towns, other than the foregoing, are Bala, Barmouth, Corwen, Festiniog, Harlech, and Towyn.